Pat Speer

Despite a down economy, customers are willing to pay for more quality from their health insurance providers, according to a recent survey. In fact, close to 50% of those queried say they are willing to pay more for quality customer service.

On July 11 when Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, announced rules for the new state health insurance exchanges, she did so with an air of caution, telling stakeholders to expect more modifications before they become final. That may prove to be an understatement.

Rep. Mike Rogers told the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee last week that health insurance agents and brokers are in a "desperate situation," due to medical loss ratio determinations.

Employers are putting the onus on employees to help curb rising health care costs, and the inability to motivate and change employee habits is prompting concern, according to Aon Hewitt, a global human resource consulting and outsourcing business of Aon Corp.

More than 40% of senior human resources professionals at financial services firms identified a stronger focus on pay issues over the next 12 months than on other HR changes, according to a poll conducted by global consulting company Towers Watson.

After a relatively quiet couple of years, life insurers are ramping up their efforts to replace legacy systems—policy administration in particular. These deals are notoriously time- and labor-intensive, and extremely costly, yet as life carriers acknowledge the need for organic growth and new business flexibility, they are actively participating in policy admin modernization projects.

Troubles are mounting for a health insurer over loss of several server drives containing enrollee and employee information.

Against a groundswell of state-based unrest, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act continues to churn forward under a blanket of contention.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new funding opportunity for state grants to help states implement health insurance exchanges (HIEs).

A combination of regulatory, political and economic factors are set to create an uncertain environment for U.S. health care insurers, Moody's Investors Service reports, leading to a continuation of the negative outlook for the industry.

Anecdotal data from new research released by the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. (NCCI) confirms that work-related injuries are far more costly if the injured worker is obese.